Dcn. Victor Nduaguba

Victor Nduaguba was seemingly in a trance on the day in 1992 when he met his wife. That’s not to say he didn’t know what was happening. 

“How I met my wife was something miraculous because when I was looking for a wife, I said a radical prayer where I told God, ‘Look, you know I don’t know you so well, so I pray that you will give me a wife who will pull me closer to you,’” Nduaguba said.

He’s still not sure how he ended up in the right place at the right time.

“I couldn’t make out what led me to my cousin’s house that day,” he said. “For no reason, I asked my friend to join me and blindly found myself there, and Chika was also there.
“In all truth, she has brought me closer to the Church.”

When he was growing up in his native country of Nigeria, his parents were devout Catholics. Nduaguba, the third youngest of 12 children, declared when he was 6 years old that he would be a priest, which resulted in a new family nickname for him – Father Victor.

He never missed Mass, but when he had his conversation with God about a wife, his seriousness about the faith had waned. 

“My church experience in Nigeria is similar to here, but more in-depth because we spent more time in church activities and the liturgy was more acculturated,” Nduaguba said. “Music and songs are part and parcel of every liturgy. Living out the liturgy in the local languages and culture makes the spiritual experience more ardent. 

“We had chapels of Perpetual Adoration where one can spend time with Jesus any time of the day. We also had at least one hour of Holy Hour in ever parish every Sunday evening, ending with Benediction. We also had many pious societies one can belong to. I was a member of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Society) and still am. I also enthroned my family to the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart, as well as consecrated myself to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

At about the time Victor met Chika in 1992, an older brother who lived in Ohio filed papers for Victor to emigrate to the United States. That process was completed in 2004 and, by then, the Nduaguba family included two sons. The family made the move to Ohio and Victor, who already had a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Enugu State University of Science and Technology in Nigeria, earned an Associate degree in environmental science from Columbus State Community College. He now is a design engineer for the Ohio Department of Health.

“I continued with my life until one Saturday after morning Mass at (Columbus) St. Andrew (Church), I was in the church and a thought came to me: ‘Why don’t you become a deacon?’”

Nduaguba said. “I wasn’t thinking about that. I was thinking about how to take care of my family. I didn’t know anything about being a deacon.”

Sponsorship by family friends at his parish resulted in Nduaguba’s acceptance into the diaconate program “by the grace of God,” he said.

“One thing I know of myself is that I always give everything to God, because when we applied to come to the U.S., I told myself, ‘Look, I’m not desperate. I give it to God.’ I am here for him to use me for whatever he wants. If he calls, I am willing to answer. His will is my peace,” Nduaguba said.